Fact Sheet: Accelerating the Fight Against Malaria
"The toll of malaria is even more tragic because the disease itself is highly treatable and preventable. Yet this is also our opportunity, because we know that large-scale action can defeat this disease in whole regions. And the world must take that action."
-- President George W. Bush
June 30, 2005
The President’s Initiative
On June 30, 2005, President Bush challenged the world to reduce the burden of malaria dramatically as a major killer of children in sub-Saharan Africa, and pledged to increase funding of malaria prevention and treatment by more than $1.2 billion over five years. The goal of this effort is reduce malaria deaths by 50 percent in each of the target countries after three years of full implementation. |
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| A woman examines her new Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) for malaria prevention.
Source: PSI |
To launch this initiative, the United States will significantly expand resources for malaria in Angola, Tanzania and Uganda beginning in 2006, and will expand to at least four more highly endemic African countries in 2007, and at least five more in 2008. By 2010, the U.S. Government will provide an additional $500 million per year for malaria prevention and treatment. This effort will eventually cover more than 175 million people in 15 or more of the most affected African countries.
The President makes this commitment as the U.S. contribution to a larger international effort needed to reduce the burden of malaria, and calls on other donors, foundations, public, private, and voluntary organizations to complement United States commitments by providing, by 2008, $1.2 billion annually in additional funding. These complementary efforts could expand the initiative to reach 650 million total beneficiaries and control malaria in the most affected countries in Africa.
These results will be accomplished by helping national governments to achieve 85 percent coverage among vulnerable or high risk populations with proven and effective prevention and treatment interventions, and build on existing national strategies and programs. The initiative will support the efforts of the Global Fund, the World Bank, Roll Back Malaria and other donors.
Magnitude of the Problem
Each year, an estimated 300-500 million malaria infections occur with 1.2 million deaths -- 85 percent of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Although malaria was successfully eliminated in many countries with temperate climates during the 1950s, it remains a major killer in Africa, increasing its toll during the late 1980s and 1990s due largely to the emergence of resistance to commonly used anti-malarial drugs. Today, malaria causes an estimated $12 billion in economic losses each year in Africa, robbing 1.3 percent from the annual gross domestic product of endemic countries.
USAID’s Commitment to Fighting Malaria
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been a leader in the global effort to control malaria since the 1950s, and is the U.S. Government’s lead agency for implementing malaria prevention and treatment programs leveling affected countries overseas. Between 1998 and 2005, USAID increased its annual commitment to fighting malaria around the world from $22 million to $89 million, most of which is targeted to African countries with the highest levels of transmission.
Read More on the USAID Approach
More Information on the President’s Initiative
More Information USAID Malaria Programs
Other USAID Infectious Diseases Programs
Publications
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